On a sunny spring day in late March I was pedaling to the store on the local bike path in Jackson when two Pit Viper-clad dudes in their late 20s flew by me on inline skates. Haven’t seen that in a while, I thought, flashing back to middle school days wreaking havoc around the cul de sac in my skates.
Just a few days earlier, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort had joined the rest of the country in shutting down lift operations for the season due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Grappling with the fact that the next few months would not be filled with tailgate beers in ski boots, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t in a pretty foul mood. But watching these guys haul down the bike path with smiles that are usually reserved for 10-inch storm days and free breakfast burritos, I saw a glimmer of hope for the coming spring months.